A Federal Judge Just Struck Down South Carolina's Same-Sex Marriage Ban

A federal judge struck down South Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, making it the 33rd state in America to extend marriage equality to gay and lesbian couple.

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel wrote in his decision that South Carolina’s ban on same-sex marraige citizens' rights to equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Associated Pressnotes that while Supreme Court refused in October to hear an appeal of a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing same-sex marriage in Virginia — a move that opened the way for same-sex marriages in other states in the 4th Circuit — South Carolina was the only state in the circuit refusing to allow such marriages.